Justice for Iran, along with 82 other FIDH
member organisations, has submitted an open letter to the French President,
Emmanuel Macron, regarding the latest G7 summit.

The 45th G7 summit, held in
Birriatz, France, had the theme of ‘fighting inequality’ and Macron has
proposed a new format where in order to tackle inequality, governments
notorious for their oppressive regimes are in attendance. FIDH and the 83
signatories warned President Macron that having these governments, such as
India and Egypt in attendance is not the solution, and urged the President to
consider inviting members of these countries’ civil society. The letter
stressed that while these regimes are represented in the summit, they will
enjoy freedom to perpetuate the existing inequalities within their states.

Under this new format, only ten
representatives from national and international organisations that tackle
inequality were allowed to participate. Although, their attendance was limited
to a very few meetings and they have hence been limited in their participation
and the discussions. Their attendance has been limited to a mere symbolic
gesture, while government representatives enjoy the freedom to attend all parts
of the summit.

This means civil society actors will
continue to not be heard, whereas those perpetuating inequality, particularly
gender inequality, in places such as India, Egypt and Russia, will not be held
accountable for their actions. Continuing to co-operate with these regimes in
order to fight inequality proves to be a disrespect of human rights and
neglects the fact that these governments are its violators.

The FIDH letter included these suggestions
to the French presidency:

Emmanuel Macron should allow the participation of civil society actors and international organisations;

Emmanuel Macron should reconsider his co-operation with these regimes;

Emmanuel Macron should shift the discussion from ‘fighting inequality’ to respecting and upholding human rights, as this has proven to be strongly linked to increasing equality.

The UN Working Group on Enforced or
Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) has recognised all four cases of activists
executed in 2010 as enforced disappearances and is now asking the Islamic
Republic of Iran’s authorities to submit evidence to determine the details of their
fates and whereabouts.

On
9 June 2010, authorities contacted the families of Shirin Alam Holi, Ali
Heydarian, Farzad Kamangar and Farhad Vakili, and informed them that their children
had been executed. Their bodies were never returned, and after nine years, the
locations of their burial sites remain undisclosed.

On October 10th (the international day against death penalty) Justice for Iran made a request to the UN WGEID and asked them to hold the IRI accountable in relation to the unlawful prosecution and execution of these four political prisoners.

The WGEID’s recognition necessitates that
authorities grant victims’ families the right to know the truth about
the victims’ fates and their whereabouts and the right to justice,
according to international law. As long as the details of the fates and
whereabouts of those killed extra-judicially remain concealed, the crimes of
enforced disappearances committed at any time will continue to remain as human
rights violations, not subject to any statute of limitations.

Farzad Kamangar, a teacher and a civil rights activist, was arrested in Tehran in April 2006. Prior to his arrest, he had been a teacher in Kamyaran for 12 years. In letters which Farzad wrote from prison, he spoke of the extensive pressures that the security forces had exposed him in order to extract televised confessions from him.

Mehrdad
Kamangar, Farzad Kamangar’s brother, told Justice for Iran about the unclear
process and the unjust ruling of his brother’s case, emphasising its
unlawfulness. He says : “According to Farzad’s attorney, Khaliil Bahramian,
there was no reason for his arrest based on Islamic Republic laws. He had to be
released… this is the reason why he was not given a public trial.”

Mehrdad Kamangar blames the influence of the intelligence forces on his
brother’s case as the reason why their efforts For his
release had been unsuccessful.
He says that after his family’s repeated visits to Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi’s
office, Tehran’s prosecutor at the time, they were told that the case has gone
‘missing’.

Farzad
Kamangar’s brother talks further about his sudden execution: “It was agreed that a number
of parliament representatives and members of the teachers union would visit
Farzad in Evin Prison to see how he is. Correspondence were held between the
judiciary and parliament representatives as well as the involved commissions,
and where fruitful. The permit and dates of this visitation were issued by the
Judiciary. Mr. Karami, the then representative from Sanandaj, communicated with
our family the confirmation of the date of this visit between four parliament
representatives, three members of the teachers union and Farzard, which was May
12th. Unfortunately, they did not allow this effort to hear the voice of the imprisoned teacher. Meaning
on May 9th they already carried the execution in a very fast way and
without informing any judicial authority.”

Mehrdad
Kamangar then talked about his family’s encounter with Esmail Najar, the then
governor of Kurdistan, and five other Kurdistan representatives after the
execution: “Najar had been the head of provincial security council at the time
of the execution. He met with my family in a room. He made justifications and
misleading arguments about the legitimacy of the execution. He took the body hostage
and said he would return it when Kurdistan’s protests against the sentence
settled.”

Farzad
Kamangar’s brother emphasised on his family’s lack of information about the
fate of his brother’s body as well as the location of his burial till this day.
He commented on the formal recognition of his brother’s case as enforced
disappearance: “Now after almost ten years, this nightmare has taken over my
family. No government organisation or body is willing to talk to Farzad’s
family about his body or the place of his burial. Therefore, my family is
putting in the effort to work with international organisations to pressurise
and hold Iran’s regime accountable. By hiding the body for ten years, they have
increased the depth of the atrocity. Therefore, Farzad Kamangar’s family is
thankful and appreciative towards international organisations who are putting
pressure on the Iranian regime Which is committing
these crimes.”

Symbolic gravestones for Shirin Alam Holi, Farzad Kamangar, and Ali Heydarian, made by their families.

Shirin Alam Holi was arrested on
June 2008 by the IRGC forces in Tehran, based on allegations of being a member
of the PJAK group. She was transferred to Evin Prison after enduring 21 days of
torture. According to a letter she wrote prior to her execution, Shirin
continuously suffered from nightmares based on the physical and psychological
pressures.

Malaekeh Alam Holi, Shirin’s aunt, told Justice for Iran about the handling of Shirin’s case and her hidden execution: “As Shirin’s family member, I want to announce that not only were her rights taken from her, but she was given a cruel sentence. She was not given the right to defend herself and therefore she was given a cruel sentence without her family or her lawyer being informed, and she was executed along with her comrades in secret.”

Malaekeh Alam Holi added that her body was ‘stolen’ and was kept hidden from her family. She pointed to her family’s repeated visits to different governmental bodies, such as the revolutionary court, parliament, the provincial government etc. and said: “Her father passed away from heartbreak due to her body not being delivered. Despite this, our family is still waiting for her body to be delivered.”

Malaekeh Alam Holi believes that Shirin’s body should be buried at home in Kurdistan. She has reached out to human rights organisations, international bodies and the world community to pressurise the IRI and have Shirin’s body returned to them.

Farhad Vakili, a political activist, was arrested in Sanandaj in April
2006 and was held in isolation for several months. According to other prisoners on his ward, he was repeatedly
tortured, and as a result, his shoulder was broken. Farhad was sentenced to death during
his short trial in February 2007.

Sadiyeh Vakili, the sister of Farhad Vakili, told Justice for Iran about the unsuccessful effort of her family to retrieve her body, or even gain information the location of his burial. She also spoke of the unjust cruelty that her family has been receiving from the Islamic Republic. She spoke of the cruelty and unjust her family suffered at the hands of the Islamic Republic: “This issue has caused us immense mental and psychological damage., It may be odd for others to hear this but we have to say that even after all these years, martyr Farhad’s wife and children still have hope that he may be alive. The never ending continuation of this pain, which has been deliberately inflicted upon us by the Islamic Republic regime, has become an endless nightmare for us.”

She added: “We hope by reaching out to human rights organisations, such
as Justice for Iran, we can find a new light in this endless nightmare.”

Ali Heydarian was arrested alongside Farzad Kamangar in August 2006 in
Tehran by security forces. After being heavily tortured during interrogations,
he was sentenced to death in a short trial on charges of “enmity against God” and
““storing and smuggling of weapons and other
ammunitions”. Ali Heydarian’s
family were amongst the families of other Kurdish political prisoners executed
simultaneously with Ali, who met the governor of Kurdistan on May 22nd 2010. They were inquiring as to how they could retrieve the bodies. Kurdistan’s
governor responded: “They are buried in a place which we
cannot currently announce due to security reasons. The officials will inform
you about the location at an appropriate time in the future.”

Until now, there has been no information given to Ali Heydarian’s family
about the place of burial and no death certificate has been In confirmation of his execution.

]]>https://justice4iran.org/latest-developments/un-body-recognises-four-kurds-cases-as-enforced-disappearances-by-islamic-republic-of-iran/feed/0Declaring A State Of War Against Iranian Dissidentshttps://justice4iran.org/latest-developments/declaring-a-state-of-war-against-iranian-dissidents/ https://justice4iran.org/latest-developments/declaring-a-state-of-war-against-iranian-dissidents/#respondFri, 09 Aug 2019 18:17:23 +0000https://justice4iran.org/?p=12128

LobeLog:Once again, we are at a state of war, and we have an unfinished job of exterminating the dissidents, all at once.

This is the essence of a recently broadcast Mosalas magazine interview with Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, Iran’s former Minister of Justice. It has had a chilling effect on Iranian activists, particularly those in prison, at a time when the nation is worried about how far the current tensions between Iran and the United States will escalate.

The interview was released on the 31st anniversary of the mass extrajudicial execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988. The Islamic Republic justified the killings by categorizing those prisoners, who were already serving their prison sentences, as wartime “enemies of the state.” The massacre, which historian Ervand Abrahamian has likened to “a medieval inquisition,” was deemed by then-Deputy Supreme Leader Hussein-Ali Montazeri as “the greatest crime committed in the Islamic Republic since the revolution.” Pour-Mohammadi served as the Intelligence Ministry’s representative on the “Death Committee” that oversaw the killings. His involvement has been confirmed by a recording of the perpetrators speaking with Montazeri.

In his interview, Pour-Mohammadi states that “we still haven’t settled scores,” strongly suggesting that the Iranian government views the 1988 carnage as an unfinished project. Now that the Iranian government claims the country to be once again in a state of war with “regime change led by the CIA, Israel, and Saudi Arabia,” one can only wonder if they are willing to repeat their actions from 1988.

The Iranian government has declared this “state of war” at a time when the space for Iranian activists is drastically shrinking. Iranian authorities have handed out heavy prison sentences for human rights lawyers like Nasrin Sotoudeh (33years) and Amir Salar Davoudi (over 29 years). Mojgan Keshavarz, Yasaman Aryani, and Monireh Arabshahi, who were arrested for defying compulsory hijab laws, were each sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran last month. Several workers’ activists, including the prominent union leader Esmail Bakhshi—who had been subjected to severe torture and forced televised confessions—are in custody awaiting their sentences. Kurdish singer and prisoner of conscience Peyman Mirzazadeh was recently flogged 100 times in prison as part of his punishment for “drinking alcohol” and “insulting Islamic sanctities.”

Pour-Mohammadi—who is now an adviser to Iran’s newly appointed chief justice, Ebrahim Raisi, another member of the “Death Committee”—is sending a signal to those who are in prison because of their beliefs or activism that in the current situation, the authorities do not have to abide by any law, even the law of war. Comparing the prisoners with villagers in his recent interview, Pour-Mohammadi said: “when you attack an enemy, some nearby villages would be destroyed… You should not be questioned for not respecting the laws for such collateral damages.”

The 1988 massacre, which amounted to crimes against humanity—including mass extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances—occurred during the final months of the Iran-Iraq War. Iranian officials used the war as a pretext to abruptly and secretly execute more than 5000 of imprisoned political activists (mainly the followers of the Mujahedin-e Khalq, along with members of other leftist organizations) and bury them in unmarked individual and mass graves across the country. According to an Amnesty International report, most of the prisoners killed were young people, serving lengthy prison sentences imposed on them due to their political opinions and peaceful activities and in an absolute absence of due process. Many were imprisoned on charges that included distributing opposition literature, taking part in demonstrations, collecting donations for prisoners’ families, or associating with those who were politically active. Others had been held for years without trial or had completed their sentences and were due to be released, whereas some who had completed their sentences were held until they were “sufficiently repentant.”

The authorities’ threats are unlikely to break the resistance of today’s young population, who are deeply affected by high rates of unemployment and prevailing corruption, the lack of basic rights and freedoms, and a wide range of gender, ethnic, and religious discriminations. However, the phantom “war” is surrounding them, more so than ever. Regardless of whether the current tension with the U.S. will eventually lead to a real war, the Islamic Republic’s use of the threat as a justification for waging an internal war against dissidents, to “settle” what Pour-Mohammadi says was left unfinished by the 1988 massacres, is a real and growing danger.

Seyyed Saeidreza Ameli-Renani was born in 1961
in Karaj, Iran. He has received a seminary education. He also received a BA in
Social Sciences, majored in researching, an MA in Sociology of Communications
from University College of Dublin, and a PhD in Sociology of Communications
from Royal Holloway, University of London.

Positions[2]:

An early
member of the IRGC[3], most likely until 1981

Deputy
Commander of the Imam Sadegh Brigade in the IRGC’s Seyyed al-Shohada Corps
during the Iran-Iraq War

Founder
and Director of the Institute for Islamic Studies in London from 1 January 1997
to 1999

Faculty
Member at the Islamic College for Advanced Studies in London from 1 January
1997 to 2006

Founder
and Trustee of the Islamic Human Rights Commission in London from 1997 until present

Member of
the International Committee of Global Studies Association from 2002 until present

Member of
the American and Canadian Studies Centre at the University of Birmingham from 2004
to 2009

Member of
Research Committee at the Ministry of Education’s Cultural and Social Studies
Department from 2010 until present

Director
at Quarterly Journal of World Studies from 2010 until present

President
of Iranian World Studies Association at the University of Tehran[4] from 2011
until present

Member of
the Supreme Council for Monitoring Tehran’s Development[5] from 2011 until
present

Vice
President for Programming and Information Technology at Tehran University from 11
August 2012 until 31 January 2016

Member of
the Research Council at the Ministry of Finance from 2013 until present

Member of
the Strategic Council for Technology at the Ministry of Science and Technology
from 2013 until present

Professor
of Communications at the Faculty of Social Sciences

Dean of the
Faculty of World Studies at the University of Tehran from 31 January 2016 until
present

Legal
Member of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace from 5 September 2015 until present

Member of
the Committee for Scientific Programming of Cyberspace and Information
Technology at Beheshti University from 2016 until present

Member[6]
and Secretary[7] of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution from 2
January 2019 until present

Human Rights
Violations:

As a high-ranking
authority in various positions within the Islamic Republic of Iran’s government,
Seyyed Saeidreza Ameli-Renani has been responsible for serious
human rights violations, by filtering and censoring the internet, allowing for the
surveillance and persecution of internet users, and depriving Baha’i students of
their right to education, based on their religion.

Violations
against Internet Users

As a legal member of the Supreme Council of
Cyberspace, Seyyed Saeidreza Ameli-Renani has been responsible for the surveillance,
filtering, and persecution of internet users and extensive violations of
citizens’ rights.

The Supreme Council of Cyberspace is an extra-judicial establishment that
pursues the regime’s policymaking with regards to the internet and enforces broad
online surveillance, controlling and censoring cyberspace in Iran. The Council
is responsible for freedom of speech violations by the Islamic Republic.

The May 2019 resolution
by the Council, ‘Policies and Actions to Organize Domestic Text Messaging Apps’[8]
was adopted during Ameli-Renani’s membership. This resolution describes the necessity of ‘storing’ and ‘processing the data related to texting apps’ inside
the country. The resolution also states that the application’s user would be
persecuted for their online activities: ‘The users are responsible for their
actions on social media, and the service providers of text messaging apps are
obliged to cooperate with officials.’

Religious
Discrimination against Baha’i Students

As Secretary of the Supreme Council of the
Cultural Revolution, Seyyed Saeidreza Ameli-Renani has been responsible in the deprivation
of Baha’i citizens from their right to education.

The Cultural Revolution Supreme Council is
the highest office in the country
tasked with national policymaking in the area of culture, education, and
research, which operates within the regime’s core policies. The decisions and
resolutions adopted by this body are legally enforceable and equal to the law
of the country. On 25 February 1991, a confidential document was signed and
consequently a resolution was adopted by the Council[9] which mandated the treatment
of Baha’i citizens to governmental bodies, effectively preventing them from
accessing higher education. The resolution also bans the employment of Baha’is
in the public sector and government offices. Every year, numerous cases are
reported of Baha’i citizens being deprived of their right to higher education.
Even those students who are near to completing graduation requirements have
been targeted and dismissed from universities. The policy is still in effect
after four decades[10].

In 2018, Baha’i
sources reported that 50 students were prevented from enrolling in universities,
indicating that the number of Baha’i students being deprived of their rights is
increasing.

On 5 January 2019,
Sama Nazifi, an architecture student at Islamic Azad University, was banned
from continuing her education and expelled[11].

Shirin Baninejad, a
junior student at Azad University’s Andisheh-Sama College was expelled on 9
January 2019, for being a member of the Baha’i faith. The officials at the University
informed her that she has been expelled one month prior[12].

Badee’ Safajoo, a senior chemical
engineering student was expelled from Islamic Azad University’s Science and
Research Branch on 9 January 2019, due to his Baha’i faith. He was apprehended
during an exam and removed from the exam room. He was told that he has been expelled[13].

Shayan
Ma’navi, a sophomore civil engineering student at Islamic Azad University’s Shahr-e Qods Branch, was
expelled and banned from continuing his education. On 17 December 2018, before
the start of exams, his portal on the university’s website was shut down. After
considerable efforts in pursuing this matter, university officials told him on 10
January 2019, that he has been expelled due to his Baha’i faith[14].

Sepehr Shahidi-Ghamsari,
a junior civil engineering student at Sina Higher Education Institute in
Kashan, Isfahan, was expelled and banned from continuing his education[15]. After considerable efforts in pursuing
this matter, the Institute’s
officials told him that he has been expelled for being Baha’i. Additionally,
the Institute refused to issue his associate degree and
his report card.

Hassan Rouhani was born in Sorkheh, Semnan Province on 11 November 1948. He was educated in a seminary.

Positions:

Member of the Parliament from 1980 to 2000

Member of the Supervisory Board of IRIB from 1980 to 1983

Member of the Supreme Defense Council from 1982 to 1988

Member and Head of Executive Committee of the High Council for Supporting War from 1986 to 1988

Deputy Commander of the war from 1983 to 1985

Commander of the Khatam-ol-Anbiya Operation Center from 1985 to 1987

Commander of the Iran Air Defence Force from 1985 to 1991

Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces from 1988 to 1989

Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 1989 to 2005

Representative of the Supreme Leader in the Supreme National Security Council from 1989 to 2005

Member of the Expediency Discernment Council from 1991 until present

Member of the Assembly of Experts from 2000 until present

Head of the Political and Social Committee of the Assembly of Experts from 2001 to 2006, and from 2013 until present

President of Islamic Republic of Iran from July 2013 until present

Human Rights Violations (in chronological order):

During his tenures in various high-profile positions of authority, Hassan Rouhani perpetrated serious human rights violations.

Oppressing Servicewomen

Before the hijab became an enforced part of the Islamic dress code for all women in the Islamic Republic, Hassan Rouhani mandated the compulsory veiling of all women serving in the armed forces, in March 1979.[1]

Suppressing University Students

As Secretary-General of the National Security Council, Rouhani played a significant role in violently suppressing the July 1999 student protests in Tehran, in an series of brutal attacks known as the Kuye Daneshgah Disaster. The protests began on July 9, in response to the closure of Salam, a pro-reform newspaper. During the national Friday Prayer on July 14, Rouhani announced that a decree had been issued the previous day, calling for the harsh suppression of the protesters.[2]

At least 300 individuals were arrested during the protest and human rights organizations reported that seven were killed.

Suppressing Protests

As the President, Rouhani is responsible for the arbitrary arrests and deaths of protesters during the December 2017-January 2018 protests. Rouhani stated that the unrest was brought on by foreign influences and promised to punish protesters.[3] Ministry of Intelligence and other forces arrested about 4000 students, protesters, and people distributing media with images of the protests. Dozens were killed during the protests by intelligence and Basij forces.[4]

Oppressing Religious Minorities

During Rouhani’s presidency, government authorities have arrested Gonabadi Dervishes[5] and Baha’is on the basis of their religious beliefs. In less than one month, 17 Baha’i citizens were arbitrarily arrested in the cities of Baharestan, Shiraz, and Karaj.[6]

Suppressing a Workers’ Strike

Under Hassan Rouhani’s administration, the Ministry of Intelligence has been arresting[7] and torturing[8] striking workers of the Haft Tapeh sugarcane company. Spokesman for the workers Esmail Bakhshi, was hospitalized during his detention to receive treatment for injuries he says were inflicted during torture.

Mohsen Araki was born in Najaf, Iraq 1955. He graduated from a seminary.

Positions[2]:

Judge at
the Islamic Revolutionary Courts of Abadan and Khorramshahr in 1980

Head of
the Islamic Revolutionary Courts of Khuzestan since 1981

Chief
Justice of Khuzestan Province from 1982 to 1983

Founder of
the military wing of the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution of Iraq (later
known as the Badr Corps) in 1983

Representative
of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist and Friday Prayer Imam in Dezful from
1986 to 1989

Sharia Judge
at the board for land transfer in Khuzestan from 1983 to 2004

Representative
of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz
from 1990 to 1995

Member of
the Assembly of Experts 1990 to 1994

Head and
founder of the Islamic Centre of England and numerous other Islamic centres
throughout England from 1995 to 2004

Secretary-General
of The World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, by the
appointment of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei from 2012 until present

Human Rights Violations:

As head of the Islamic
Revolutionary Courts of Khuzestan, Mohsen Mohammadi-Araki has been responsible
for torture, murder, extrajudicial executions, summary trials and disproportionately
long prison sentences for Arab activists.

Extrajudicial
Executions and Summary Trials

On 30 May 1979,
bloody clashes occurred between the Arab followers of Ayatollah Shoubair
Khaghani and IRGC forces and Navy commanders in Khorramshahr. These clashes,
during which hundreds of people including Arab citizens were killed, became known
as ‘Black Wednesday’. Following Black Wednesday, government forces arrested
many Arab activists in Khuzestan, who were later sentenced to death or long
prison terms during summary trials.

Kosar Al- Ali, a
political prisoner at Karun Prison from 1971 to 1981, has testified to Justice
for Iran about the role that Mohsen Mohammadi-Araki played in issuing death
sentences for dozens of Arab activists:

‘Many people
were arrested during the protests in Mohammareh (Khorramshahr). They just took people
en masse from the villages to the Commerce School. My brother-in-law was one of
those arrested. Within an hour or two, they were all tried and told that they are
sentenced to death. Tiz-Maghz was the Prosecutor and Araki was the Sharia
Judge. They all received a death sentence.’

Mansour
Asl-Sharhani, a political prisoner at Fajr and Karun prisoners in Ahvaz (from 1982
until 1988) names Mohsen Mohammadi-Araki as the main perpetrator of issuing
death sentences for political prisoners during his testimony to Justice for
Iran:

‘I was in
prison when I heard Ansari was executed. At the time, [Mohsen Mohammadi-]Araki
was still the religious judge issuing all the sentences. Mahmoud Bolverdi, a
member of the Communist Alliance, also got executed on Araki’s order. When in
detention, he used to say loudly that, ‘I will fight until the overthrow of the
Islamic Republic.’ They didn’t give him a chance. They executed him after five
days. His pregnant wife, who was arrested with him, gave birth in prison after
his martyrdom.

Mr. Ahvazi was
another victim of Araki’s executions. Ahvazi was the director of the Communist
Alliance in Khuzestan. For carrying out the executions, they would come at
night and take a group of the prisoners outside to a remote area of the
cemetery. They called that area Lanat Abad (the Damned Land) themselves, which
is now attached to the main area of the cemetery due to the increase in the
number of deceased. They took them there, and shot them, and threw them in mass
graves. When we saw them taking someone there in the middle of the night, we
knew that they’re going to shoot them there and bury them there, too.’

A witness and
member of the Bani-Tamim Tribe, who was one of Ayatollah Shoubair Khaghani’s
followers after the 1979 revolution, has told Justice for Iran that he recalls
Shoubair Khaghani being arrested on the direct order of Khomeini and sent to
Tehran, after which many of his followers were executed.

He said about
Mohsen Mohammadi-Araki’s issuance of execution sentences:

‘After the
raid on Ayatollah Shoubairi’s[sic] house in 1358, Araki was appointed as Abadan’s
religious judge. After that, some people were executed in the Shatitte area (a
suburb of Abadan with a predominantly Arab population). I know one of the
youngest who got executed…[His name was] Abdullah Bichari…They took him from
the middle school. He was not even 15. They took him to Shatitte and asked him
if he is still a follower of Mr. Shoubair. He had said yes. He was a teenager,
and so he spoke on his emotions…’

The
Torture and Murder of Ali Bahrameh

Khosrow Kiazand, was arrested in early 1982 alongside many other
political prisoners of Khuzestan Province. He testified to Justice for Iran
about Mohsen Mohammadi-Araki’s involvement in the torture and murder of Ali
Bahrameh:

‘When they were saying that Ali Bahrameh has died
under interrogations, they called the Head of the Revolutionary Court, whose
name was Araki. He came and looked at them, saying with an insulting tone,
‘Bury him. Throw him out.’ They knew no boundary in the interrogation. After
Bahrameh was killed under torture, our cases were closed…’

Torture
and Disproportionate Sentences

Mansour Asl-Sharhani also testified to Justice for Iran that Mohsen Mohammadi-Araki,
the then-religious judge of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Khuzestan, witnessed
the torture of prisoners and was aware of the violent manner in which interrogations
were carried out:

‘The Revolutionary Court’s building was
originally that of a school. It was an L-shaped building with two entrances,
one opened towards an ice factory and the other across from a shrine. The solitary
confinement cells and other prison rooms were on one side and the interrogation
rooms, administrative offices and the Revolutionary Court, where Araki was
working and issuing the sentences at the time, were on the other side. They
were all in one building, and not just Araki, but all those who worked there
could see the torture and interrogations as they were happening, because that
location was in view of their location.’

Mansour Asl-Sharhani explains some of the torture methods he endured in
detention:

‘They chained both my hands to the back of the
chair. He put my leg on the chair in front of me, my foot sticking out. Then
some overweight man sat on my shin as someone started flogging my feet. With
his flog, he would hit my feet, they hit my head as that person was sitting on
my leg. I was in this state for probably half-an-hour. Then, he pressed on my
head downwards until my head passed between my legs. Even though I was young
and only 68 kilograms, one could not expect much flexibility from me in that
situation. Then, I think I moved due to the pain, that caused the chair to fall
and my legs slipped from that chair. The man fell with all his weight on my
legs. I blacked-out for a few seconds. They dragged me by my legs, and I was
thinking to myself that my legs are amputated…’

Asl-Sharhani has told Justice for Iran about the details of the trials Mohsen Mohammadi-Araki held for him and dozens of other political prisoners:

‘One day
in 1982, they took us from the Karun Prison to the Revolutionary Court. As we
were being taken there, we knew that it’s a court, but what we didn’t know was
whether the court was for torture or trial. They said, ‘Get up, hurry up, and
wear your blindfold.’ Then, they took us from the corridor into a room, where
Araki was in the front, so we realized it’s the court. His real name was
Araghi, though, before changing into Araki. They tried 30 people in one minute.

We were all seated, Araki was sitting on a chair,
one leg folded underneath him, while the other leg was hanging from the chair.
As we sat down, he started insulting us heavily; ‘Dumbasses! You thought the
Islamic Republic would fall? Who do you think you are? A bunch of baby goats!’ [He
said] things like that.

Someone else was also sitting there. I still
remember his face. There were two or three guards behind him. I was watching
him quietly. My friend said, ‘Haj Agha, wait. What’s going on? What do you
want? Tell us something.’ [Araki] said, ‘I will not allow anyone to speak. You
and you and you,’ as he was looking at me, he said, ‘take them.’ The officer
asked, ‘Where?’ He said, ‘Go.’

In the end, I didn’t figure out what this trial
was for. This was our trial. Nobody asked what we have done, neither if these
claims are true, or false. Without anyone else, six officers were there, four
officers brought us, two officers were with him. I found out about my sentence
only when they published it in the newspaper, which was first announced as 15
years in prison.’

Ahmad Jannati was born Ladan, Isfahan around
1926. He graduated from a seminary.

Positions[2]:

Judge at
Tehran’s courts (Ghezel Ghaleh) during the early months of the 1979 revolution

Judge at
the Islamic Revolutionary Courts in Khorramshahr, Isfahan and Kermanshah in
1979 and 1980

Sharia
Judge in Khuzestan between 1979 and 1980

Temporary Friday
Prayer Imam in Ahwaz from 11 November 1979[3] to spring 1980[4]

Member of
the Guardian Council from 20 February 1980 until present[5]

Temporary
Friday Prayer Imam in Qom[6] from 16 September 1981 to about 1992

Secretary
of the Council for Coordination of Islamic Propaganda[7] from about 1981 until
present

Temporary
Friday Prayer Imam in Kermanshah, most likely during 1982

Representative
at the Assembly of Experts from 14 July 1983 until present

Head of
the Islamic Development Organisation[8] from 3 April 1988 to 29 June 2002[9]

Member of
the Council for the Revision of the Constitution from 24 April 1989 to 28 July
1989

Representative
of The Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist at the Islamic Association of
Students[10] from 15 March 1990 to 1 May 2000[11]

Temporary
Friday Prayer Imam in Tehran[12] from 3 April 1992 to 11 March 2018

Secretary
of the Guardian Council[13] from 18 July 1992 until present

Head of The
Staff for the Revival of Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil[14] from about 2003
to 12 March 2018

Member of
the IRIB Commission

Member of
the Supreme Council of Foreign Advertisements, as appointed by Seyed Ali
Khamenei

Member of
the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution[15] from 30 November 2003 until
present

Member of
the Expediency Discernment Council[16] from 19 March 2007 until present

Head of
the Assembly of Experts[17] from 24 May 2016 until present

Human Rights Violations:

During his long
career in various positions of authority in the Islamic Republic, Ahmad Jannati
has been responsible for and defended numerous human rights violations.

Torture,
Imprisonment and Execution Sentences in Tehran and Isfahan

As an Islamic
Revolutionary Court judge during the early years of the Islamic Republic’s regime,
Ahmad Jannati was responsible for unfairly trying officials of the former
Pahlavi regime and their associates. Jannati is also responsible for sentencing
them to flogging, imprisonment and execution.

The Islamic Revolutionary
Courts were established by Ruhollah Khomeini’s order on 24 February 1979, in
order to address the crimes of the Pahlavi regime’s leaders. Subsequently, many
of the regime’s officials were unfairly and collectively tried without a right
to defend themselves.

In a televised
episode of the program “Shenasnameh” (birth certificate)[18], Ahmad Jannati
discussed the establishment of the Islamic Revolutionary Courts and his
unqualified participation in them:

‘At first, when
the revolution was underway and the [Islamic] Revolutionary Courts were founded,
I was working in Tehran, right here in Ghezel Ghaleh with a number of others…which
is a long story. It was decided that we’d become judges, and we had zero
experience. Which is to say, we weren’t educated in judicial studies, we weren’t
educated in legal studies, we had not studied. But we were familiar with the
revolution and Islamic matters. Anyways, the Imam [Khomeini] said there was no
other options and that we should come here; and right here the court was established,
and these criminals were brought to this place and tried. I was right here in
Tehran for a while.’

In the same
broadcase, Ahmad Jannati explains the role he had in issuing sentences for flogging,
imprisonment and execution:

‘For a while,
I was going to Isfahan and was a judge [there]…those who would come there [as
judges] didn’t know what to do. Like I told you, those like myself and I didn’t
have any education regarding being a judge…We only [knew] those general principles
that said the [Pahlavi] regime’s own people should be tired; that their trials
depended on how much crime they had (sic), [let’s]
imprison some. For many issues, we were in contact with the Imam [Khomeini]. In
many places we were stuck. I even asked the His Grace, the Imam [Khomeini] whom
we may execute.’

In an interview with Tasnim news[19], Gholamhossein Sadeghi-Qahareh,
who was the investigator for Branch 3 of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in
Isfahan during 1979, confirmed Ahmad Jannati’s participation in the unfair
trials of that time. He stated:

‘In Isfahan, a
group of pro-revolutionary people were arrested. Mr. Jannati and the martyr
Qodusi were Sharia judges…At that time, most of the work of the revolutionary
courts was focused on the commanders involved in martial law, SAVAK members and
municipal officers who would directly engage with the people, beating and murdering
them.’

Execution
of Dissidents in Khuzestan

As an Islamic
Revolutionary Court judge in Khuzestan, Ahmad Jannati was responsible for the
trial, imprisonment and execution of dissidents in the province during that
time. In a televised statement, Jannati said:

‘Then, once
when the martyr Motahari told me, ‘Well, you go to Khuzestan. This is because,
there, the prisons are full and there is no judge.’ [The number of prisoners] was
increasing more and more each day. They kept [arresting] them faster and faster,
and most of the time they had no place [to keep] them…I went to Khuzestan and
started running the Islamic Revolutionary Court, and I got busy working…At the same
time I was working at the Islamic Revolutionary Court, for some we would doubt
ourselves as to whether we should execute them or not. The Imam [Khomeini]
ordered that for those whose crimes were obvious, we should do it quickly…That
was the Imam’s point of view.’

Suppression
of University Students in Ahvaz

As a Sharia judge
in Khuzestan and Friday Prayer Imam in Ahwaz, Ahmad Jannati was responsible for
the killing and suppression of Ahwaz Jundishapur University students who
opposed the Islamic Republic’s regime, after the ‘Cultural Revolution’.

Mansour Aslesharhani,
a former political activist who witnessed the violent events at Ahwaz Jundishapur
University, described Jannat’s role in the attacks on students during his
testimony to Justice for Iran:

‘Two days
before the events at the University, [Ahmad] Jannati came and performed his
group prayer before the College of Agriculture. They wanted to close the College,
they were unable to do so. Then, on television and radio, [Jannati] announced
that, ‘Oh, communists and atheists are burning the Qur’an! Come help [us stop
them].’ The worst scenes I saw there, were the indigenous people who were even
far from the University, people who’d spent a lifetime propping up Imam Hossein
and thought [the word] communist meant there is no God; well, they’d boarded
these people onto small vans and brought them to the University. They were all
armed with clubs and beating [students]…This mayhem was started by Jannati…The University’s
records were all hand-written…’

In a televised
interview[20], Jannati discussed his role in student suppression. He stated:

‘I began
working as Khuzestan’s Friday Prayer Imam…people were very interested in us. Besides
them, there was a group of people opposed to the revolution who had barricaded
themselves at the university. It was just like that here, some had gone to the
university and created a barricade. In the army there we some who were blocking
our work. Eventually they told me to come do the Friday prayer at the university…I
went to the university to offer the Friday prayer and it became very busy…Right
there, they told me that these kids that had created a barricade at the university
wanted to attack me…Then, by the grace of God, I was inspired to tell them to
say on the radio, to call on the people to rush to the people’s university and
save it. People, come to the university’s doors. People came and took all those
who had created a barricade at the university, and they put them in jailed them;
and the problem was solved, if this hadn’t been done those [people] would have
caused us a lot of trouble.’

Many political
and student activists were arrested, tortured, jailed and killed during the Jannati’s
Friday prayer and during the following days[22]. Some were taken to the municipal
building in Ahwaz and imprisoned there. On 24 April 1980, officials opened fire
on a group of students protesting for their freedom. At least two students died
after being wounded in the gunfire[23].

Preventing
Free Elections

As Secretary and
a member of the Guardian Council, Ahmad Jannati is one of the main people
responsible for preventing free elections in Iran. The Guardian Council violated
one of the most basic rights of all Iranian citizens to run as a candidate in
an election since 1991,when they used Article
99 of the Constitution[24] to veto candidates
who are religious minorities, opposers of the Islamic Republic, and women[25].

Legalizing
Retribution

As a member of
the Guardian Council, Ahmad Jannati is responsible for approving the law of Hudud
and Qisas which allows for retributive justice[26]. With this law, judges
gained the ability to sentence people to cruel and inhumane punishments such as
execution, flogging, stoning, and punitive limb amputations.

Restricting
the Freedom of Press

As Secretary of
the Guardian Council, Ahmad Jannati is responsible for restricting the freedom
of press and human rights violations against journalists and others, by approving
reforms for press law which make it illegal to engage in press activities which
‘operate or advertise against the Islamic Republic of Iran, support members of
counter-revolutionary groups or illegal groups’[27].

Violating
Women’s Rights

As Secretary of
the Guardian Council, Ahmad Jannati is also responsible for the violation of
women’s rights by preventing the Islamic Republic of Iran from joining The
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW). With Jannati as Secretary, the Guardian Council deemed CEDAW to be contradictory
towards Islamic law and prevented the country from becoming a party to the
Convention.

In a letter to
the Parliament, Jannati said of CEDAW[28]:

‘The content
of this piece of legislation is at odds with some the essential laws of Islam,
such as inheritance, retribution, blood money, divorce, martyrdom, age of
majority, marriageable and non-marriageable kin, hijab, polygamy, etc.”

Suppressing
Dissidents

Throughout his
many lectures, prayers and interviews and across numerous platforms, Ahmad
Jannati has demanded the suppression of political and ideological dissent against
the Islamic Republic. Given his authority, these demands are guaranteed to be
met.

Suppressing
the 2009 Election Protests

As Secretary of
the Guardian Council and the Friday Prayer Imam in Tehran, Ahmad Jannati was
responsible for the suppression of the 2009 post-election protests. He
supported the execution of protesters and called for the house arrests of Mir
Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi.

The day after
Mohammad Alireza Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour were executed, Jannati thanked then-Head
of the Judiciary Sadegh Larijani for executing them, during his Friday prayer
speech in Tehran, and called for more executions[29]. He said to Larijani:

‘The heavy duty
of the judiciary is dealing with these rioters… For the sake of God, persist
courageously, just like you executed these two people very quickly, for which I
thank you… the Qur’an has specified what is to be done with them… They must not
be pitied. This is not the place for compassion…’

Political prisoners
Mohammad Alireza Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour were condemned to death in the
summer of 2009, on charges of planning for armed action, even though it was revealed
after their executions that they had been arrested in April and June, prior to
the protests, and therefore, could not have been planning or carrying out any actions
for the protests in June. Their executions were carried out on 28 January 2010.

After the 2009 election
protests on 14 February 2011, Ahmad Jannati said in his Friday Prayer speech
about the house arrest of the protest leaders[30]:

‘What the
judiciary can and must do is completely blocking their connection to people, completely
block the entrance ways to their homes, cut off their telephone and internet
access so that they wouldn’t be able to send or receive any message and be
imprisoned in their own houses.’

On the television
programme Shenasname, Ahmad Jannati statedabout the protest’s
leaders, Karroubi and Mousavi[31]:

‘They are bestowing
a gift upon [Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi]. If they were to be tried,
no conscious and just judge would condemn them to less than a death sentence…No
government tolerates this…They would be executed if they were in any other
country.’

Defending
the 1988 Massacres

After the release
of an audio recording[32] from Hosseinali Montazeri’s meeting with members of
the ‘Death Committee,’ in which Montazeri speaks against massacring political
prisoners including those of whom who had already served their prison
sentences, Guardian Council Secretary Ahmad Jannati discussed[33] its
disclosure at the Friday prayer in Tehran on 9 September 2016. He said:

‘With the
release of this audio file, they’ve wrongly condemned the regime…the Imam Khomeini
executed the verdict of Islam…Some people keep asking for Islamic compassion,
meanwhile Islam has both compassion and violence…Therefore, people must be
treated accordingly…The Imam ordered that they must be uprooted in order for
the roots of the regime to remain in place…And the Qur’an instructs us to
treat them as [people who wage war against God].’

In August and
September 1988, thousands of political prisoners were executed under Ayatollah
Khomeini’s fatwa (religious order), pursuant to the intelligence and judiciary
authorities’ decisions. At the time of the mass executions, the victims had
already served, or were currently serving their prison sentences.

The 1988 massacre
of political prisoners in Iran is recognised as a crime against humanity by
international human rights lawyers such as Geoffrey Robertson[34], as well as
by the Iran Tribunal people’s court[35] and Human Rights Watch[36].

The United
Nations recognises the 1988 Massacre victims’ cases as enforced disappearances.
Enforced disappearance is a human rights violation and a crime under
international law[37]. The crime is not subject to statutes of limitations, and
charges may be initiated at any time, until the person concerned is found or
their fate is determined. According to international law, the Iranian regime
should guarantee the families of victims their rights to knowing the truth
about the fates and burial places of their loved ones and hold accountable
those responsible for such crimes.

Defending
the December 2017-January 2018 Protest Suppression

As Secretary of
the Guardian Council, Ahmad Jannati was responsible for the violent crackdown
on the nation-wide protests of December 2017-January 2018. He provided the
grounds for violence against the protesters, describing the events as ‘sedition’
and stating that the protests were ‘designed by foreigners with the cooperation
of domestic agents’[38]. Ahmad Jannati went on to praise the efforts of
security and military forces to suppress the protests[39].

During the
December 2017-January 2018 protests, about 4000 people were arrested, dozens
were killed by police and Basij forces, and at least three detainees died in
jail. Two of those detainees died under suspicious circumstances, which
officials claimed were suicides without providing evidence of these claims.

Religious
Persecution of Gonabadi Dervishes

As head of the
Assembly of Experts, Ahmad Jannati has been responsible for the arrest, torture
and murder of Gonabadi Dervishes. He officially called for the violent
suppression of Gonabadi Dervishes during the 7th Golestan Street incidents
in February 2018.

On 19 February 2018,
Gonabadi Dervishes protested the arrests targeting their community and the
further suppression of one of their leaders, Nour Ali Tabande, on 7th Golestan Street in Tehran. They were raided violently by security and police
forces. The dervishes were severely beaten and injured. Some 170 injured Dervishes
were transferred to hospital and nearly 300 of them were arrested. These events
were known as 7th Golestan incidents henceforward[40].

Mohammad Raji,
one of those dervishes was severely injured in the raid. Despite his injuries,
he was taken to the Shapour detention centre where he was killed during
interrogation.

Dozens of
Gonabadi Dervishes were sentenced to long prison terms, flogging and exile. Mohammad
Salas was executed based on confessions obtained under torture in 2017, after being
tried on charges of murdering three police officers by running them over in a
bus. Later, Ahmad Jannati lauded the judiciary for the extrajudicial and fast
execution of Mohammad Salas[41].

Defending
the Suppression of Women Protesting Forced Hijab

Ahmad Jannati has
consistently defended police forces in their violent treatment of women who do
not conform to the Islamic Republic’s dress codes and thereby has played a role
in violating women’s rights and suppressing protests against forced hijab[42].

Jannati called
women who non-violently protest forced hijab promoters of ‘debauchery and degeneration’
and asked for them to be dealt with in a severe manner[43]:

‘Today, some
people mention the issue of hijab and this is, in a way, promoting debauchery and
degeneration. Those who want to demonstrate debauchery, and through dancing and
removing their scarves, which is in fact removing their chastity and honour, [will]
be severely dealt with and stopped.’

25 June 2019- The Executive Order issued yesterday by the US President imposes sanctions on Iran’s Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Khamenei, all the individuals appointed by him, all the entities owned or controlled by them, and any individual or legal entity which is related to them in any way. As a result, many within the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ruling class who have ordered or perpetrated serious human rights violations will be subjected to international punitive measures.

Some of the people appointed by the Supreme Leader include Ebrahim Raisi, a member of the ‘Death Commission’ responsible for the 1988 massacres of political prisoners; Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor-in-chief of Kayhan newspaper, responsible for incitement of hatred against Baha’is and collaborating with security forces to crack down on activists and journalists; the Guardian Council’s members, including Ahmad Jannati, one of those responsible for the bloody aftermath of the ‘Cultural Revolution’ and breaches of freedom of election; members of the High Council of Cyberspace, responsible for violating freedom of information and speech; Mohsen Rezaei, one of the perpetrators of suppressing political opposition in the post-revolution of 1979 era; Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi, the Minister of Intelligence during the 1998 ‘chain murders’ of dissidents; and Hossein Ashtari, Commander-in-Chief of Iran’s police forces, responsible for suppressing nationwide protests during December 2017-January 2018 and the suppression of women protesting against compulsory hijab. Justice for Iran has published records of the human rights violations of Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the perpetrators above and those of many others in its 2019 publication, Faces of Crime.

Based on this Executive Order, the US Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of State are tasked with banning the US entries of those targeted and blocking their financial assets in the country.

Unlike the sanctions that targeted entire industries such as oil and steel causing an increase in layoffs and unemployment for thousands of workers, the 24 June 2019 Executive Order targets a part of the Islamic Republic’s ruling class which has enjoyed maximum impunity and acquired vast monetary profits through extensive corruption and embezzlement due to their appointment by the Supreme Leader.

Seyyed Ali Khamenei was born in Mashhad during 1939. He was educated in a seminary.

Positions:

Member of the Council of the Islamic Revolution from December 1978 to June 1980

Deputy of Revolution Affairs at the Ministry of Defense

Head of the IRGC from 24 November 1979 to 24 February 1980

Friday Prayer Imam

Member of Parliament from February 1980 to September 1981

President of the Islamic Republic of Iran from September 1981 to May 1989

Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council from January 1988 to May 1989

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran from May 1989 until present

Human Rights Violations (in chronological order) :

During his tenures in various high-ranking offices within the Islamic Republic, including the highest-ranking position of Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei has perpetrated many serious human rights violations.

According to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, the Supreme Leader is the highest-ranking authority of the country and possesses vast powers, such as the determination of policies and the ability to appoint officials to many government offices, including:

Head of the Judiciary

Members of the Guardian Council

Chairman of IRIB

Members and Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council

Members of religious institutions

Members of the General Staff of the Armed Forces

Senior Commanders of the IRGC

Commanders and senior officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army

Commanders of the Law Enforcement Force

The heads of certain ministries, such as the Minister of Intelligence, the Minister of Science, Research and Technology, and the Minister of Interior are chosen with the approval of the Supreme Leader, as well. Therefore, Seyyed Ali Khamenei has had an ongoing role in all human rights violations by institutions such as the Judiciary, the IRGC, and the Law Enforcement Force (NAJA), etc. since 1989.

Suppressing Student Dissidence

As a member of the Council of the Islamic Revolution, Khamenei played a key role in the closure of universities and the violent suppression of students’ dissidence, when The Council announced a cultural revolution. During the national Friday Prayer on 18 April 1980, Khamenei threatened university students during his speech,

‘These groups that have nested in the universities and have attacked the Islamic Republic must be expelled! If these centers of corruption are not returned to their original owner, the state, then the original owner will come and guard them.’[1]

Legalizing Oppression

As a member of the Council of the Islamic Revolution, Khamenei was also responsible for enacting laws that legalized the violent oppression of political dissidents. Specifically, the Council passed a bill establishing procedures for the public and Revolutionary court systems.[2] To date, critics and opponents of the Islamic Republic are tried and sentenced by these courts.

The 1988 Massacre

In August and September 1988, during Ali Khamenei’s presidency, thousands of political prisoners were executed under Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa (religious order), pursuant to the intelligence and judiciary authorities’ decisions. At the time of the mass executions, the victims had already served, or were currently serving, their prison sentences.

The 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran is recognised as a crime against humanity by international human rights lawyers such as Geoffrey Robertson, as well as by the Iran Tribunal people’s court and Human Rights Watch.

The United Nations recognises the 1988 massacre victims’ cases as enforced disappearances. Enforced disappearance is a human rights violation and a crime under international law. The crime is not subject to statutes of limitations, and charges may be initiated at any time, until the person concerned is found or their fate is determined. According to international law, the Iranian regime should guarantee the families of victims their rights to knowing the truth about the fates and burial places of their loved ones, and hold accountable those responsible for such crimes.

During the winter of 1988, Khamenei said about the execution of political prisoners:

‘Have we abolished the death penalty? No! In the Islamic Republic, we have the death penalty for those who deserve to be executed… Do you think we will treat them—the people who are in prison and still have contact with the munafiqin (Mujahedin-e Khalq,) who have attacked our state—to sweets and candies? If their connection to that organization is determined, what should be done about it? They are condemned to death, and we will execute them! We are not joking about this matter.’[3]

Suppressing Journalism

As Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei appointed leaders to many government institutions, ministries, and agencies, including the Chairman of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). This state-owned media network has perpetrated human rights violations by working closely with the state security apparatus to broadcast false confessions obtained from political prisoners and prisoners of conscience under conditions of torture and duress.

The 2009 Post-election Protests

During the unrest that followed the 2009 presidential election, Ali Khamenei called for the suppression of protesters. He also threatened protesters with punishment during a speech and urged them to reject any claims of fraud regarding the election results. [4]

Oppressing Baha’i Citizens

As Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa (religious order)[5] against Baha’i citizens and has described them as najis (unclean).His incitement of hatred against this religious group is a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran has acceded.[6]

In early 1991, with the approval of the Council of the Islamic Revolution, Khamenei banned Baha’i citizens from government jobs and entry into institutions of higher education.[7] Therefore, Ali Khamenei has violated Articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights[8] and Articles 18, 19, and 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights[9], which uphold that unfair treatment due to religious beliefs is a clear example of a human rights violation.

Abuses by Judicial and Security Authorities

The heads of the Judiciary, appointees of Seyyed Ali Khamenei since 1989, have been directly and indirectly involved in the execution of all death sentences and punitive amputations.[10] Arbitrary detentions, torture, false accusations, and the general suppression of political dissidents, human rights defenders, and civil society activists, are ongoing violations perpetrated by judicial and security authorities throughout Ali Khamenei’s tenure as Supreme Leader.

[6] Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states: “1.Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law. 2. Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes

incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.”

[8] Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” Article 19 of the Declaration states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

[9] Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states: “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.” Article 19 of the Covenant states: “1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference. 2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.” Article 27 of the Covenant: “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language.”

]]>https://justice4iran.org/human-rights-violator-s-profiles/human-rights-violator-seyyed-ali-khamenei/feed/0Seyyed Zia MirEmadi: From bloody prosecutions to Bar Associationhttps://justice4iran.org/latest-developments/seyyed-zia-miremadi-from-bloody-prosecutions-to-bar-association/ https://justice4iran.org/latest-developments/seyyed-zia-miremadi-from-bloody-prosecutions-to-bar-association/#respondThu, 20 Jun 2019 11:10:14 +0000https://justice4iran.org/?p=12018Seyyed Zia MirEmadi used his positions of high-ranking judicial authority to violate the rights of Iranian citizens for decades. Watch the video to learn about his bloody history as a prosecutor and current status.